Foreword
Society and Environment will help to increase your knowledge and understanding about your local community
and environment and compare them to others.
The seven books in the series look mainly at Australia—its people, its heritage, its political and legal systems,
and its place in the world.
The aim of the book is to assist you to better understand the community you live in and to make sound decisions
about local, National and worldwide issues.

Contents

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Who Are We? .................................... 45–68

Studying roles and responsibilities of the people students
interact with in the community.

Studying groups within the community—their benefits,
beliefs and practices.

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People in the Community ...................... 1–24

What Do We Need Each Day?
Desert Island Holiday
What Can You Do?
Roles and Responsibilities
Responsibilities in a Home
How Families Help Each Other
Class Members’ Responsibilities
What Else Can I Do?
People Who Help Us at School
Imogen and Amrita
Interview – Who Helps You at School?
How Do People Help Me at School?
Thank You for Helping Me
Rockwood Community
Workers in the Community
Occupation Match
My Community
Interview – A Community Role

Types of Community Groups
Groups We Can Belong to
Religious Groups
What Groups Do You Belong to?
Groups People Belong to – Interview
Groups People Belong to – Retrieval Chart
Graphing Class Groups
Clothing
Benefits
How Does the Weather Affect Groups?
Mountview Map
Group Activities – Finland
Group Rules
Group Rules – Horseshoe Pony Club
Rules and Me
Leaders of Groups
Past, Present and Future

Adapting to the Environment – 1
Adapting to the Environment – 2
Aboriginal Australians
Shelter and Survival
Making Our Homes Comfortable
What Do We Get from Our Environment?
Problems with Changing the Environment
Problems for Australian Animals
The Rabbit and the Bilby

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Write your own list of
you would like to o
take.
Sort them into needs
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and wants.
Needs

People in the Community

Wants

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What Can You Do?
When you were a baby all of your needs and wants had to
be met for you. Now you are older you can do many things
for yourself. However, you still need help to do some tasks.
1. Complete the table with keywords and pictures.

Adults can do a lot of things on their own. However, they also need help to do
some things.
2. Think of an adult you know. Draw and label something they can do and
something they might need help to do.
Can do

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Needs help

Whether you are a child or an adult, everyone needs help from other people.
Look how Sam, his teacher and his mum all help each other.

3. Discuss other people who help you and what you can do to help them.
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Roles and Responsibilities
Everyone has different roles and responsibilities in their home and community.
A person’s role is like a part in a play.
It describes who you are.
For example – a teacher, parent or doctor.
Within each role you have certain responsibilities or things you are in charge of.
Some people may have many different roles and responsibilities.

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Role
Responsibility
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• Father

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1. Look at this person and his roles and responsibilities. Write another
responsibility for each role.

How Families Help Each Other
People in a family often help to meet each other’s needs. Read about these two families
and how family members help each other.
The Family Barbecue
‘I hope you like it.’ Aunty Clare looked worried as Dad
opened his present. He showed a bright smile. ‘It’s
fantastic!’ he said, holding up a brand new drill. ‘I
can’t wait to use it!’

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kthis heaps of times
My cousins and I were already heading for the cupboard. We’d done
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before. We started to set the small table where we kids would sit and eat. David and Mark’s

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‘OK everyone,’ Mum called from the kitchen. ‘Let’s get
started. I’m sure you’re all hungry! Tom, David and
Mark, could you please get out the red picnic set?’

little sister, Jody, who’s four, ran after us. We knew that Uncle Craig and Aunty Clare were
busy, so we let her help, too.
After we’d set the table, we put Aunty Clare’s salads carefully on the big table where the
adults always sat. Aunty Clare was already there, putting chairs around the table.
‘Tom, could you please take this to your Uncle Craig?’ she asked me, handing me a pair of
tongs. I raced over to the barbecue where Dad and Uncle Craig were cooking the meat.

Finally Mum called out, ‘Come and get it!’ and we all tucked into lunch. It was delicious!
Just before we finished eating, Mum brought out a huge birthday cake that Grandma had
made. It was Dad’s favourite—chocolate! After we sang ‘Happy Birthday’, we all helped—by
eating as much cake as we could!
A Family Holiday

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Beep! Beep! My alarm went off at 6.30 a.m. Today, Dad was taking my
sister and me to the country for five whole days! I could hardly wait to
get started. There was still lots left to do.

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‘Morning, Cassie. Could you girls put your bags by the front door? Then
maybe you could
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help Georgia get dressed.’ h
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‘Sure Dad!‘ I yelled. I ran into my little
sister’s
room
and woke her up. Then I dragged our
When I wandered into the kitchen Dad was packing some food into a
big cardboard box. ‘Morning Dad. What can I do to help?’

bags to the front door. Boy, they were heavy!

Georgia was starting to get dressed by the time I got back. I helped her
to tie her shoelaces. After that, Dad got us all breakfast. Then I ran
next door to let Mr Abbot know we were going away.
By that time we were almost ready to go! Dad carried our bags to the
car and Georgia and I made sure that all the lights in the house were
switched off.
At last, we were on our way! Hooray! Now all we had to worry about
was having a good time!
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1. How did the people in each family help each other? Write one example for
each of these family members.

Responsibilities:
• Helps listen to reading in his daughter’s classroom.
•
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•
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Imogen and Amrita
1. Read about how Imogen was helped by
someone on her first day at her new school.

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Imogen sat at her desk in her new classroom. She felt like
she was sitting in the middle of a sea of strange faces.
Her first day was not going too well. She felt so shy.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.
‘Oh, here are our buddies,’ her teacher said. ‘Come in,
Year 6’.
A big group of older kids came in the door and each one
paired up with someone from her class. Imogen could feel
tears starting in her eyes. She was all alone.
Suddenly, one of the Year 6s appeared next to her.
‘Hello, Imogen, my name’s Amrita. Did you have buddies at your last school?’
‘No,’ said Imogen. ‘What do you do?’
‘Look around,’ said Amrita. Imogen looked and saw some Year 6s helping children from her
class to put their art shirts on or mix paint. All the pairs were chatting quietly to each other.
‘That’s what we do—we help you!’ said Amrita. ‘You can ask for my help with anything!’
Imogen began to smile. This girl was very friendly.
‘It’s hard being new, isn’t it?’ Amrita said. ‘I bet you feel a bit alone.’
‘Yes,’ said Imogen softly. ’I don’t know anyone.’
Amrita stood up straight and smiled. She waved across the room to a freckle-faced girl from
Imogen’s class. The girl ran over.
‘Laura,’ said Amrita, ‘Would you please show Imogen around at lunch-time and introduce her
to your friends?’
‘Sure,’ said Laura. She grabbed Imogen’s hand. ‘Come and see what we’re doing with our
buddies today, Imogen!’
Imogen grabbed Amrita’s hand with her free hand and followed her new friend. Two faces, at
least, didn’t seem so strange anymore.

How Do People Help Me at School?
Look at the headings below. These are some
ways that people help you at school.
Using the information that your class has gathered from their interviews, write
the helpers’ names under each heading. Names may be written more than once.

µ¶µ¶µµ¶µ¶µ¶µ¶µ¶µ¶µ¶µ¶µ¶µ¶µ
2. Show your helper this page when you have finished. Find out what they
think.
Additional Activities
Brainstorm things students can do to make school helpers’ jobs easier.
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Rockwood Community
Lesson Focus:

You will learn about the roles and responsibilities of people in a community.

Keywords:

community, workers, occupation, equipment, service

A community is a group of people who live near each
other and provide for each other’s needs. It could be a
suburb in a city or a small or large town in the country.

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Many of the people in this community work in or use these places.
What need
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Video Store

Bakery

Supermarket

Dentist

1. Colour yellow those which give us food.

2. Colour green those that give us health and safety.
3. Tick those that give us education.
4. Cross those that give us entertainment.
5. Colour blue those that provide another service.
6. In the blank boxes, label two more places a community might have.
7. Talk about the people who might use or work at each place on the map.
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People in the Community

Workers in the Community
People have special roles in a community. Some of them are for paid work such
as an office worker. Others are unpaid such as a charity worker.
1. Read about each of these people on pages 19 and 20 and their roles and
responsibilities in the community.

Shop
Assistant

Parent

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shoe shop. In
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open the shop,

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I am the
mother of two
young children.
Adam is six and
in his second
year at school.
Rachel is one and is just learning to
walk. She sits in her pram while I
walk Adam to and from school.
During the day I am busy looking
after Rachel, cleaning the house and
shopping for food and other things
we need. Sometimes I help in
Adam’s classroom with reading.

tidy it and
make sure I
know a lot
about everything
I sell. Then I can help
customers to find the perfect pair of
shoes. If they decide to buy some
shoes, I take their money, and give
them a receipt.

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Police
Officer

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Emergency
Service
Volunteer

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As a police
officer my job
is to keep
people and
their property
safe in my community. If someone
is driving too fast I will stop them
and give out a fine. If someone has
had something stolen I will interview
them and try to find the burglar and
the stolen goods. I also look after
people who ring for help or advice or
who have been in a car accident.
People in the Community

I help people
from my
community in
emergencies
like floods and
storms. I also
help to rescue
people. I train with the volunteers
once a week and on some weekends.
We do this to keep our skills fresh in
our minds. I can be called out at any
time to help people in need.

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Mechanic

Ambulance Officer

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My partner and I drive to accident
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suddenly become ill. The ambulance
I work as a motor vehicle mechanic
has lots of medical equipment on
board that we use to help people. It
has a radio on board too so we can
keep in contact with our base. If we
need to, we take people to the
nearest hospital.

Cleaner

at a service station. My job is to look
after and fix our customers’ cars. I
check car engines, brakes, tyres and
other parts. If something is not
working properly I will repair it or
put in a brand new part if necessary.

I work as a
cleaner in a
primary
school.
When school
is finished
for the day,
I arrive to
help clean the school ready for the
next day. My job includes emptying
rubbish bins, vacuuming the
classrooms, washing floors, cleaning
toilets and hand basins, and dusting
benches and ledges. The students
help by picking up things that have
dropped onto the classroom floor and
putting chairs on desks.

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doctor. I travel in
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aeroplane with a nurse to remote
places where people can’t get to
hospital. The aeroplane is like a
flying ambulance! People can come
to see me in their local clinic if they
are sick or injured. We also fly out to
help people in emergencies. If they
need to go to hospital, we fly them
to the nearest one.
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Role

Where do they work?

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What are their responsibilities? What do they need to do this?
(skills/equipment)

2. Choose four workers in the community or your own choices to complete the chart.

Occupation Match
An ‘occupation’ is another word for a person’s job or role in the community.
Different occupations need different equipment and skills to make the work easier.
Match the occupation to the equipment needed. Write a sentence to describe a
responsibility for each.
Occupation

You will learn how animals and plants use the environment for shelter and how they
adapt to different environments.

Keywords:

adapt, environment, mountain, desert, rainforest

Australia has many different types of environments. We have hot, dry deserts,
cold areas where it snows, cool, wet places and even tropical rainforests.
Read about how these Australian animals and plants find
shelter and have adapted to the environment in which they
live. Answer the questions at the end of each section.

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in snow for much of the year. There are also strong,
cold winds and rain.
Mountain Pygmy Possum
This possum makes a nest in a sheltered place like a
hollow in the ground. Before the winter snows, it stores
seeds and fruits in its nest or under pieces of bark.
When it becomes really cold the possum stops moving
around for a few days and sleeps in its nest.

Alpine Marsh Marigold
The alpine marsh marigold grows low to the ground. That
way it protects itself from the strong cold winds and
stays close to the warmth of the soil. The marigold also
begins to flower under the snow so when the warmer
weather arrives the flowers and seeds are nearly ready.

Dry Desert Areas
Dry desert areas are places which get very little rain. During the day it is very hot,
and it can get very cold at night. It is very important that desert plants and
animals can find water and live in the harsh
weather.
Thorny Devil

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Sturt’s Desert Pea

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This lizard has folds in its skin which can trap
any drops of rain or overnight dew. This water
then runs down the folds into the devil’s mouth so it
can take a drink. A small amount of water may be all it drinks for months or
years. The thorny devil also has ways of sheltering from the harsh desert weather.
During the day, it often digs and rests in a burrow under a shady shrub. At nighttime, it digs itself into the sand to keep warm.
The Sturt’s desert pea grows in places where
water collects, like rocky hillsides, or dips in the
ground. After a heavy desert rain, it uses the
moisture to grow its beautiful flowers and make
seeds which fall on the ground, ready to grow a
new plant when it rains again. The plant only
lives for a short time, so this is important.

Bird’s Nest Fern
The bird’s nest fern grows on the forest floor or
attaches to a tree. Its shape means it can easily catch
falling leaves and other plant litter. When the litter
rots, it feeds the plant, as well as any insects that may
live in it. If the bird’s nest fern lives on a tree, it
absorbs water as it runs down the tree’s trunk. The
bird’s nest is sheltered by trees and it grows well in
weak sunlight. It can sometimes look wilted and
brown, but recovers quickly when it rains.

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Spectacled Flying-fox
Spectacled flying-foxes can only live in places like a
rainforest where the blossoms and fruit they eat can be
found all year round. They see very well at night, so this
is when they find food. They can drink while skimming
over the surface of water. Spectacled flying-foxes shelter
high up in the trees in large groups. They hang
comfortably from branches by their feet.

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Rainforests grow in areas with a high rainfall. They are damp places with no
drying winds. Many fascinating plants and animals grow and live in rainforests.

1. The bird’s nest fern grows close to the forest floor. Why does it grow well in
this position?

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2. Why do you think the spectacled flying-fox shelters high up in the trees?

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Shelters

A Busy Builder
All living things need a home—plants, animals and people. There are different
ways living things use their environment to shelter and survive.
We don’t think of animals being able to make shelters or homes in the same way
we can. However, some animals are amazing for the homes they build.
Read about this busy little builder who lives in North America.

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Have you ever heard of an animal
called a beaver? It makes a home,
called a ‘lodge’, in the middle of a
stream. First of all, it must make a
dam across the stream. Sometimes
beavers build a dam on their own.
Usually, a whole beaver family or
beavers from other families will join in
the building.

The dam is made from logs, branches,
rocks, sand and mud from the bottom
of the stream. A beaver uses its very
strong front teeth to cut down trees and break them into logs and branches. The beavers pile
the logs and branches in the stream until the dam is above the water. Rocks, stones and
mud are used to plaster it together.

stay warm and dry in the cold, snowy winter or dry off after bringing in food. Beavers are
always repairing their lodge. They only leave when food runs out in the area or too many
enemies move nearby.

Answer the questions.

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1. Complete the information about a beaver’s home and your home.

Where is it
built?

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Beaver

Your Home

What is it
made from?
What is used to
hold it together?
2. Discuss the reasons why you and a beaver need a home.
Additional Activities
1. Compare other animal’s shelters with human shelters.
Shelters

2. Build a model of a plant environment or animal shelter.
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Adapting to the Environment—2
Lesson Focus:

You will learn how people adapt to different environments and find shelter.

Keywords:

landscape, protect, survive, comfortable

People can adapt to different environments by changing the shelter they live in
and the clothes they wear. These environments could be a hot desert, an icy cold
place or even a tropical rainforest!
Read about how people live in each of the environments above.

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Antarctica
Antarctica is an
extremely cold,
windy place. The
winds, called blizzards, can blow you off
your feet! It is covered in ice all year
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Sahara Desert
The Sahara Desert
is very hot during
the day but
becomes cool at
night. It is covered
with sand and
gravel. Here and
there a well or spring is found. This is
called an ‘oasis’. People live in villages
here and grow crops. They make their
homes or shelters from stone, baked
mud, clay or grasses. Special clothing
is worn to protect them from the heat
and sand blown about by the wind.
People wear long loose robes covering
their whole body—even their head. If
travelling across the desert, people
shelter in a tent and cover the desert
floor with rugs.

When explorers first set out to cross
Antarctica they wore many layers of
clothes to keep warm. They used wood to
make ‘home’ or ‘base’ huts to shelter. On
their journeys across the ice they
sheltered from the blizzards in tents or
made snow tunnels.

Today, scientists live in Antarctica. Their
homes are heated and are very warm
inside. The scientists still need protective
clothing outside and use polar tents to
shelter from a sudden blizzard when going
on an expedition.

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hot, wet places where
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the rainfall is very high. Peoplee
make
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or shelters to protect themselves from the heat

and rain. In south-east Asia, some homes are built
on stilts by river banks. The water under the house
keeps it cool. In rainforest areas, the houses have
sloping roofs so heavy rain runs off easily. Houses
are often raised from the ground to keep rainwater out. This also allows cool air
to flow under to keep the house cool. In Australia, many houses have a veranda
to shade the home from the sun. People wear loose cotton clothing to keep cool.
Wide brimmed hats give protection from the sun.
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groups moved from place to place searching for food and water. They would make
a campsite near a water source and look for food around that area. Aboriginal
people would only take what they needed. When the food supply was running
low, they would shift to another area.

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All Aboriginal groups made shelters from materials around them.
Bark was the
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most common material. It was
strong, weatherproof t
and
easy
to shape. The
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pwind.
shelters protected them from heat, rainu
and
Other groups that lived near an area where there was always a lot of food and
water stayed in the one place.

help to give warmth. Caves and rock shelters were also used.
The clothing worn depended on the weather. Fur cloaks and blankets were made
from animal skins. Little clothing was worn in hotter areas. Mud was used to
cover the body for protection against biting insects. Fire was used for cooking,
providing warmth and for protection from animals such as snakes. The Aboriginal
way of life is a very good example of how humans can adapt to life in different
environments.
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Shelters

Answer the questions.
1. Why did Aboriginal people camp near a water source?

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(a) All traditional Aboriginal
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people moved from place to place.
(b) Mud was used to protect the skin.
(c) Bark was hard to find.
(d) Fire was important.

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Shelter and Survival
Shelter can help us to survive! When disasters like bushfires happen, shelter
becomes very important.
The people of Koala Heights live in a high-risk area for bushfires. Their local fire
brigade put together this information for them to read.

If you can, cover yourself with a woollen rug. Wet a corner to use as a smoke mask.
Cover any bare skin.
Find ground that has already been burnt. Don’t try to outrun a fire.
If you can’t avoid the fire, lie face down under a bank, or in a hollow. If you can, get into a stream or
river, but NEVER a water tank.
• If you have water, drink as often as you can.

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Shelters

Answer the questions.
1. The information gives a lot of advice about bushfire safety. Describe why
each of these things are important.
Wait on burnt ground.

2. Look at the photographs of the two rooms below. Each comes from a
different home. Decide which room would be more comfortable in hot
weather and which room would be more comfortable in cool weather. Give
reasons why.

Additional Activities
Read stories about people surviving in different situations and the shelters they constructed.
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Shelters

What Do We Get from Our Environment?
Lesson Focus:

You will learn how people change the environment to meet their needs for shelter and
how these changes affect other living things.

Keywords:

habitat, extinct, endangered, introduced, native

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People change the environment to help provide for their needs and wants—one of
which is shelter. Look at the photographs below and describe what needs each one
provides us with. Draw and describe something else we get from our environment.

Problems with Changing the Environment
Humans need space and materials to build shelters.
Finding them can cause problems for plants and
animals because we may destroy their natural
habitats.
Forests and wetlands are often cleared to make
space for people to live and for their farms. This
means chopping down trees, which causes many
animals to lose their homes. Some species of
animals can only live in one type of habitat. When
their home is destroyed, they often become extinct.

Queenstown, Tasmania

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Trees are also chopped down for their wood. It is then used for building shelters,
as well as for fuel and paper.

With the trees gone, soil can be easily washed or blown away. This is a problem,
because soil helps to grow food and plants. People also use soils such as clay to
supply building materials.
These problems happen throughout the world as well as in Australia.

because the trees have been cleared for farmland, wood and paper. This has
affected many Australian animals.

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• The mining town of Queenstown in Tasmania has bare, treeless hills, because
of the clearing of trees. These trees were chopped down for fuel and timber.
• There are some Australian animals that scientists think are endangered
because of humans. Many of these are rainforest animals whose habitats have
been cleared of plants. Here are two of them.

rainforest in Queensland. It
needs to eat from the
birdwing vine when it is a
caterpillar. It is hopeful that
this species will not become
extinct, as people are
planting more birdwing vines
to make up for the ones that
have been lost.

• The Double-eyed Fig
Parrot is a small
colourful bird that eats
figs from rainforest
trees. It is one of
Australia’s most
endangered birds.
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Shelters

Answer the questions.
1. Why are trees chopped down?

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2. Why is soil important?

3. Choose one of our endangered rainforest animals. Draw a picture and write
key facts about the animal.

4. Do you think it is important that animals don’t become extinct?
Why/Why not?

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Problems for Australian
Animals
Australia has a great variety of animals, many of which are
found only in Australia. These include the koala, platypus,
emu, wallaby, kangaroo and echidna.

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The original Aboriginal Australians only killed these animals
for food. When people from other countries came to live in
Australia many of the animals began to die out, as larger
numbers were killed for food. The new settlers also brought many animals with
them, such as cats, foxes, rabbits, goats, rats and pigs. Some of these animals
killed our native animals. They also took over our native animals’ shelters for
their homes.
Answer the questions.

1. When did some native Australian animals begin
to die out?

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2. Colour yes or no.
(a) Aboriginal people only killed animals for food.

The bilby is an Australian mammal about the
size of a small cat. It is nocturnal, which
means it feeds and moves about at night.
It lives in burrows deep in the ground. The
bilby is an endangered animal. It used to
be common in southern areas of Australia.
But now, introduced animals are causing
problems for the bilby. Cattle destroy
their shelter by walking over bilby
burrows and making them collapse.
Foxes attack and eat them. But the
worst problem for the bilby is rabbits.
Not only do rabbits take over their burrows, they also eat their food. Now,
bilbies only live in some desert areas of Australia where they don’t have to worry
about rabbits and foxes. There may be only a few hundred bilbies left in
Australia.

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Answer the questions.
1. Fill in the missing words.
cause the soil to

Rabbits’
plants find it hard to

and

again.

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2. Use your own words to explain how rabbits are
causing damage to the environment.

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(d) A bilby’s burrow c
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in
some
desert
areas
of Australia.
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What could we do to help the bilby?
•

• under the ground in burrows.

Additional Activities
1. Make a class flow chart of the building of a house. Consider the changes to the environment that might occur.
2. Find ways we can build and use shelters in a more environmentally-friendly way.
3. Find out about other endangered Australian animals.
R.I.C. Publications

(b) Add more groups you can think of yourself for each label.
(c) Ask other children in the class and add theirs.
3. Tick the groups you belong to.
4. Find out if other family members
might belong to these groups.
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Groups We Can Belong to
Hello, my name is
Hayley. Every Tuesday
after school, I love to go
to my drama class. We
learn in a hall with a
real stage at one end.

Hi, my name is Adam. I started judo
classes last year. Some of the people in
my class are seven, like me, and some
of them are a few years older.
In judo, we learn how to fall safely,
how to strengthen our muscles and
how to throw a partner to the floor—
without hurting ourselves too much!
My favourite part is when we work with
partners.

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My class and my teacher make judo a

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In drama, we learn how to use our
voice and our body to play different
characters. My favourite part of the
class is when we get to act in short
plays—sometimes we get to make
them up ourselves!

lot of fun. We help each other to do
our best, and no-one minds if you
make a mistake.

When I first started drama two years
ago, I felt shy, but the people in my
class are very friendly. My teacher
encourages us to listen to other people
and not to laugh if they make a
mistake. I don’t feel so shy anymore—
now I love performing for the class.

Next year, I would like to enter judo
contests. Who knows, maybe one day I
might compete in the Olympic Games!

Religious Groups
Members of religious groups like to celebrate together on important occasions.
Read about the celebrations of three different religious groups below.

Jews
The happiest celebration for Jewish people is called Purim.
Purim is celebrated between February and March each year.
It remembers the story of Queen Esther who saved the Jews
long ago from an evil man called Haman.

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Jewish children dress up in fancy dress, and perform plays of
the story. When Haman appears in the play, children love to boo and
shake rattles called greggers.
Families often go to pray at the synagogue, and afterwards eat Purim bread and
pastries. They also give each other gifts. Children sometimes give fruit or lollies
in boxes they have made themselves.

Muslims

Muslims celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr, or Eid, which lasts
for three days. It comes at the end of
Ramadan, which is a month where Muslims do
not eat between sunrise and sunset. One of the
reasons for fasting is to help remember people
who do not have enough food to eat.

As you can imagine, there are a lot of meals eaten over the three days of Eid!
Families often invite poor people to share meals with them or give them food.
Over Eid, Muslim people usually wear new clothes, and go to pray at a mosque.
They visit their family and give them gifts, money and cards.

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Christians
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Christians celebrate Christmas
the birth ofo
Jesus
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Christ. Most families like to eat a meal
together
ons
Christmas
Day or Christmas Eve. Many go to special church services to
pray and sing Christmas carols. Children sometimes act out the
story of when Jesus was born, in plays called Nativity plays.
People give each other presents, to remind them of the gifts
that the shepherds and the Wise Men gave to Jesus. Many
children around the world also believe that Santa Claus or
Baby Jesus brings them presents on Christmas Eve. Presents
are often left under a Christmas tree.
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Who Are We?

Answer the questions below.
1. Complete the table for each religious group.
Group

Celebration

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(a) Tick the group which matches the sentence. It may be more than one
group.

Jews

My mum bought me some
new clothes.
I give people presents at
this time.

Groups People Belong to—Interview
Invite community members from different types of groups to talk about their
particular group. Have each person talk to a small number of students. Ask him/
her the following questions and record the answers.

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Where and when does your group meet?
How does the group c
help
or benefit you?
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Share your group’s interview with the other groups in your class.
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Groups People Belong to—
Retrieval Chart
Complete the chart using keywords or phrases about different groups in the
community. You can choose a group you belong to, a family member belongs to
or a group from the class interview activity.
An example has been done for you.

Additional Activities
Bring photographs, equipment, clothing, badges etc. from groups students and their families belong to for a class display.
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Who Are We?

How Does the Weather Affect Groups?
Lesson Focus:

You will learn how the environment affects the groups to which people belong.

Keywords:

weather, environment, natural, built, recreation

Some group activities are only available at certain times of the year. This is
usually because of the weather, especially if the activity is held outdoors.
1. Look at the sports activities below. Decide if each activity is for summer,
winter or all-year-round. Write it in the correct place in the Venn diagram.
rugby

Group Activities—Finland
The type of environment in which you
live affects the type of activities you can
do. People all over the world find
different activities and groups to join
depending on the environment in which
they live.

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To find the country of Finland
u
map of the world, youS
will have to look
near the North Pole! Winter in Finland is
very long and very cold. There is a lot of
ice and snow. In summer, however, it
does become warm to hot.

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Read about the sporting activities the
people in Finland like to do.

Finnish people love the outdoors—even in winter. Sports are very popular. There
is probably a group or club for every kind of sport in Finland.

hockey are also played indoors, in
rinks, during summer.
Groups of Finnish people enjoy
bushwalking through the many
forests. Water sports are very popular
as Finland has many lakes, rivers and
the ocean to use. Some water sports
are fishing, sailing, whitewater
rafting and swimming.

• Wear long pants. If you do not own a hard hat or riding boots, these will be
provided for you.

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•

• When saddling your horse, remember that horses like to know where you are.
Stay at the front of the horse so you don’t frighten it.
• Finally, let our instructors know how fast you like to go before the ride
starts.

The Horseshoe Pony Club has decided to write five rules from this information.
List the five rules you think they should have.

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below for the Tadpole Creek Clubhouse.
Write what
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would happen if each rule
was not followed.
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Please put your
rubbish in the bin.
Don't run on the
pathways.
Be quiet when other
people are speaking
at the meetings.
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Leaders of Groups
Groups you may belong to have a leader or person
in charge. They may have a special name.

List any groups you have belonged to in the past, groups you belong to now and
groups you would like to belong to in the future. Include sporting, religious,
artistic, cultural and your school groups. Draw a picture for each.
Past

You will learn what an oral history is and how it can tell you about your family’s past.

Keywords:

oral, history, events, relatives, memories

Events that happened to us in our past are called our history. All of us have a
family history, or things that have happened to our family in the past, like
holidays, moving house, or a new baby arriving.

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What you remember about your family history
is only a small part of it. You can learn more
about things that happened before you were
born from your parents, grandparents and
other relatives. What they tell you can be
called an ‘oral’ history because it is spoken.

1. In the box below, draw and label an event from your family history you can
remember. Cut out or write words to describe how you felt.

Family History Recount
Write a recount about an event you remember in your family’s history. It can be
about the one you drew on page 70 or another event of your choice.
Complete the framework below. Read your recount to your class.

Different Memories
Sometimes family members will have
different memories of a family event. What
they say about it can be different.
The Ellis family went on a camping trip last
school holidays. Here’s what six-year-old
Sarah Ellis and her mum had to say.

Our family camping trip last holidays was fantastic! It took three hours to drive
to the campsite, so I listened to my favourite songs on my personal cassette
player.
also enjoyed the bushwalking except my little brother Daniel slowed us down.
Mum and Dad usually joined in with us but sometimes wanted to sit and read,
which was really boring. My favourite part was toasting marshmallows on the
campfire at night.

Our family camping trip last holidays was really enjoyable, but had some
moments that weren’t so enjoyable. The drive to the campsite was very long and
Daniel complained all the time.

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Daniel also found it hard to keep up bushwalking, and wanted to be carried. His
dad and I had to keep a good eye on him swimming, fishing and canoeing in the
river. Sometimes I just read books in the afternoon, which was really relaxing. My
favourite part was watching the children toast marshmallows.
Complete the table below.
How did Sarah and her mum remember each of these events?
Sarah
Driving to the
campsite

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Activities during
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Campfire
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My Family’s Memories
Choose a family event that two people in your family have experienced. It could
be a family holiday, a wedding or a party.
You will need to ask each person to tell you their story.
They will need to tell you:
• Where it happened.

Past, Present and Future
There are many things we use that have changed from the past.
For each olden day object below, draw and label what we use today, and what
you think we might be using in the future.
PRESENT

icebox
Additional Activities
Listen to the taped interviews of oral histories and use these as a springboard to make up short plays of the ‘olden’ days.
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Learning About the Past
Lesson Focus:

You will learn what an artefact is and how it tells us about the past.

Keywords:

artefact, archaeologist, museum

An artefact is something that was made and used by people in the past. It often
tells us about the way people in the past lived. Artefacts can tell us about times
hundreds or even thousands of years ago.

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Artefacts are often found under the ground by scientists called archaeologists.
Examples of these artefacts are tools such as knives and hand axes, weapons
such as spears and arrowheads, and other objects such as clay pots and
jewellery.
Some artefacts from the past such as books, paintings or furniture, are kept in
people’s families and passed on to family members.
1. Match the artefact to its label.
2. Tick the artefacts an archaeologist may dig up.

Aboriginal Australian Artefacts
We have learnt a lot about the lives of traditional Aboriginal Australians from
the artefacts that have been found. Aboriginal artefacts have been dug up from
old campsites in many places in Australia.
Read about some of these interesting Aboriginal artefacts.

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Artefacts used for carrying water:

Aboriginal Australians sometimes used an
animal skin bag or a large shell for carrying
water.

(b) A snare could catch a dingo.
(c) Digging sticks were made of wood.
(d) Bone awls were used for hunting.
(e) Aboriginal artefacts were found at old campsites.
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Artefacts from Family History
Artefacts from family history are very important to lots of people. People often
know interesting stories about family artefacts that are handed down from one
person to another.

‘This is my mother’s ring. It was given to her on her
eighteenth birthday by my grandparents. It has a
greyhound engraved in the stone, which is part of our
family crest. My mother told me she lost her ring when she
was twenty. She was very upset because she loved it so
much. The family hunted everywhere for it for months. It
was finally found in a kitchen cupboard—my mother had
taken it off to wash the dishes!’

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‘This is my uncle’s diary, which he was given when he was
eight. He wrote in it almost every day. It is interesting to
read because he wrote about what he did at school—and it
is very different from what we learn at school today. The
front cover of my uncle’s diary is very worn, but you can still
read what he wrote on the front—Doug’s Diary – Keep Out!’

‘This is my great-grandfather’s piano, which he
learnt to play when he was eight years old. It is
so old it used to have candlestick holders which
were used to light the music. When my greatgrandfather was still alive, he told my father that
he hated to practise his scales. He got so cross
one day he pushed the stool over onto the hard
wooden floor. You can still see the scratch on the
stool. He turned out to be a very good pianist and
he played in many concerts.’

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‘This is my grandmother’s doll’s pram. It was
her Christmas present when she was five. It was
her favourite toy when she was a little girl. She
used to take her dolls for walks in it around the
park near her house. My grandmother made lots
of blankets and quilts to go in the pram, and
she still has some of them. She looked after the
pram so well, it hardly has any marks on it.’
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Artefact Interview
Choose two artefacts that you have read about. Imagine you are the person the
artefact was given to. Complete the interview questions below.

A Family Artefact
Bring a photograph or draw an artefact from your family’s history. It could be an
ornament, a book, a piece of furniture or even some jewellery.
Find out its story and write a report about it.

Where was it found?
What was it used for?
Additional Activities
1. Have students bring family artefacts from home to present at ‘show and tell’ times.
2. Organise an excursion to a museum or historical place.
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Family Stories
Lesson Focus:

You will learn about stories that are told in families and the reasons why.

Keywords:

culture, Dreaming, legend, traditional, folktale

Read these stories from different families and cultures.
How did people learn or find out information about their family or culture before
books, newspapers, radio, television or the Internet? One way was to tell stories.
Stories were a way to bring news from one place to another. Children were taught
lessons by listening to stories told by their parents, relatives or other adults.
Some stories were told just for enjoyment.

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Stories are still told
in families today. They can teach us about life in the past,
S
about how to behave or teach us about a culture or way of life.

This is a traditional Aboriginal Australian legend. Storytelling is a very important
part of life for Aboriginal Australians. Stories of the Dreaming have been handed
down for thousands of years to tell children about their history and culture.
The Legs of the Kangaroo

Kangaroos did not always hop on two legs. Before the
first people arrived to hunt it with their spears, it
walked on four legs, like a dingo.

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Kangaroo was resting in the shade one day
when he saw a man come towards him
with a spear. He leapt to his feet and
began to run away. He thought he
would be able to run faster than a
man. But he was wrong. The man’s
two legs were faster than Kangaroo’s,
and Kangaroo could not get away. For
many hours, the man chased Kangaroo.

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At last it was night-time, and Kangaroo
could
hide
in
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the darkness. He could see that the man had built himself
a fire to keep warm not too far away. He had to get away from the man without making
any sound, so he got on his back legs and tiptoed away.
Soon he realised he was only using two legs instead of four, just like the man. Kangaroo
could move a lot faster than the man by hopping and using his tail for balance. He was
so pleased about this, he has been doing it ever since. Kangaroo’s front legs are now
very small because they are not used, and his back legs have grown stronger and
stronger.
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This folktale from Africa teaches us that biggest isn’t always the best.
The Flying Contest
Long ago, all the birds had an argument about who could fly
the highest. All the larger birds thought they could win.
The smaller birds did not think they had a chance,
because their wings were so small. All except the wren.
She decided to win through trickery.

‘I am,’ said the wren.

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On the day of the contest, all of the birds flew into the
sky. The eagle was the strongest and fastest bird and flew
up very high. The wren saw this, and stayed as close to the
eagle as she could. When the birds soared into a cloud, the wren landed on the eagle’s
back. She was so small and light, the eagle didn’t notice. As the eagle kept flying higher
than the other birds, he called out proudly, ‘Who is flying the highest?’
The eagle was surprised, and he flew even higher. He asked the question three more
times, and every time he heard the wren answer from above him. At last he was too
tired to fly anymore, and he began to glide towards the ground. The wren let go and
flew even higher. The eagle had to admit the wren had flown the highest and was the
winner.

This is the story of my great-great-great-grandfather, Thomas Grayson. He was born in
London, England, over 200 years ago. He was a musician and he played the violin. At
the age of eighteen, he was arrested for pickpocketing a gold watch. No-one could prove
that he did it, but he was sentenced to seven years in prison and sent to Australia as a
convict.

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At the end of his seven
meant he
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was free. Thomas changed his
name to Thomas Charles when he got.
his ticket-of-leave.
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We think it was because he was
ashamed
of having been a o
convict.
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A few months later, he married Elizabeth u
found work with a watchmaker in

town. I am always amazed that Thomas wanted to work with watches after all the
trouble a watch had caused him back in England! He must have liked it, because after a
few years, he bought his own shop. He was an excellent jeweller.
Everyone had their jewellery made and fixed at Thomas’ shop. His
shop is still standing, but it is now a cafe.
Thomas’ sons also became jewellers after he died, and bought their
own shops. My father is also a jeweller today. He has a photograph
of Thomas above his work table to remind him of his amazing
story. I am very proud of Thomas and everything he achieved.
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Old Families, New Families

Answer the questions.
1. How did people find out about their families hundreds or
thousands of years ago?

My Family Story
Write about a story that is special in your family. It could be
about one of your relatives or a story that comes from your
history or culture. You may need to talk to an older relative first.

Society and Environment - Student Workbook: Book B - Ages 6-7

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